Written Answers Tuesday 29 August 2006

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the administration costs were of the Single Farm Payment scheme and how much funding was issued under the scheme last year.

Ross Finnie: The cost of administering the Single Farm Payment and Support Schemes in 2005-06 (including the start-up costs in the first year of the scheme) was £4.142 million with the value of payments to date totalling £427.7 million (which includes £19.586 million paid through Scottish Beef Calf Scheme as a part of the CAP Reform project work).

Children and Young People

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the Growing Up in Scotland study will be published.

Robert Brown: The first report providing results from sweep 1 of the Growing Up in Scotland study is expected to be published early in 2007. Growing Up in Scotland is a longitudinal study and further reports are expected to be published at later dates.

Children and Young People

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the research brief is for Growing Up in Scotland.

Robert Brown: The information requested is available in the research specification for the study, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40208)

  Information about the key objectives of the study is also available on the GUS website: http://www.growingupinscotland.org.uk.

Children and Young People

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has published or commissioned into the causes of antisocial behaviour amongst children and young people.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has not commissioned research that explores the factors associated specifically with antisocial behaviour (as opposed to broader delinquency). However, the Executive is currently part-funding the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime. This is a programme of research being carried out by the University of Edinburgh that aims to address a range of fundamental questions about the causes of criminal and risky behaviours in young people. The core of the programme is a major longitudinal study of a single cohort of around 4,000 young people who started secondary school in Edinburgh in the autumn of 1998.

  While the study recognises that explanations for delinquency are extremely complex, it does highlight a number of factors which appear to be strongly associated with delinquency at age 15. These are: moral beliefs; victimisation; parenting, and risk taking. Other factors that were quite strongly associated with delinquency at this age were: peers and spare-time activities; impulsivity, and attachments to school. For further details see the 2004 research digest entitled "Gender and Youth Offending" which is available on Edinburgh Study website at publications: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/.

Children in Care

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has systems in place to monitor the number of children in care who are temporarily placed in accommodation outside Scotland.

Robert Brown: No, we do not have systems in place to monitor the number of children in care who are temporarily placed in accommodation outside Scotland. This is a matter for local authorities.

Children in Care

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor the wellbeing of, and provide appropriate support to, children in care who are temporarily placed outside Scotland.

Robert Brown: When a child becomes looked after, the local authority has a duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare, including when a child is placed outside the local authority area or outside Scotland.

Children in Care

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of Scottish children in care currently placed outside Scotland is known and, if so, what that number is.

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it collects information regarding the extent to which temporary crisis accommodation is used for young people in care when there are no places available in fixed care establishments or foster care.

Robert Brown: This information is not held centrally.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) longest, (b) average and (c) shortest time was for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to settle a claim (i) since and (ii) in each year since its inception.

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many outstanding claims the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority currently has and in what years these claims were initiated.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally. Information on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority’s performance can be found in its Annual Reports and Accounts , copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40093).

Crown Estate

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23787 by Malcolm Chisholm on 3 August 2006, what plans it has for insulating homes with solid walls or timber frame design.

Malcolm Chisholm: Fuel poverty programmes provide for loft, tank and pipe insulation for houses which cannot benefit from cavity wall insulation.

  Responsibility for improvement of private houses lies primarily with the owner. The provision of adequate insulation is an improvement that falls within the eligibility criteria for housing improvement and repair grants, but it is for local authorities to determine priorities for available funding.

Energy

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average energy savings per household have been in respect of projects supported under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative in each year since 2002, broken down by type of technology.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) was established in 2002 primarily to promote the development of new community and household renewable energy projects in Scotland.

  An independent performance review of the SCHRI was carried out during 2005. The review included an estimate from the Energy Saving Trust of lifetime savings of 2,734 tons of carbon arising from household grants in 2003-04 and 2004-05. The Evaluation of the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Scheme is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/06/12105643.

Energy

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what response it received when it wrote to Scottish energy suppliers in 2004 asking them to show social responsibility in setting domestic energy prices and whether it intends to write to them again in light of recent domestic energy price increases.

Malcolm Chisholm: Over the last two years energy companies have kept officials informed of various schemes and special tariffs put in place to assist vulnerable customers. I wrote to companies again on 17 February and 29 June this year and I will meet with each of the three main Scottish suppliers shortly.

Environment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-26417 by Ross Finnie on 8 June 2006, what sources of funding available for the promotion of local environmental regeneration projects have been identified thus far in the Executive’s review of the range of funding for such projects.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Housing/regeneration-/EnvironmentFundsProjects .

Fuel Poverty

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the eligibility criteria for the next phase of the central heating programme.

Malcolm Chisholm: I announced the detail of the next phase of the Executive’s Fuel Poverty Programmes on 14 March 2006. I confirmed that the central heating programme will continue and from 1 January 2007 the eligibility criteria will be widened so that pensioners in receipt of the guarantee element of Pension Credit can get upgrades if they currently have a central heating system that is partial or inefficient.

Fuel Poverty

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has calculated how many more households are in fuel poverty as a result of domestic energy price rises since the Scottish Housing Condition Survey was carried out in 2002.

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish households it estimates are living in fuel poverty.

Malcolm Chisholm: The latest available figure is from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2003-04 which estimated that 328,000 households were fuel poor.

Fuel Poverty

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the increase in domestic energy prices and any subsequent growth in fuel poverty.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have renewed my call to energy companies to ensure they take adequate measures to protect vulnerable households and to this end I am meeting later this year with the Chief Executives of the main Scottish suppliers.

  I have already said that I will extend our fuel poverty programmes from January 2007 to provide upgrades to partial and inefficient systems to people under 80 in receipt of the guarantee element of pension credit, and that the Warm Deal will also be extended to include families with disabled children.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to issue revised guidance to local authorities on local housing strategies and whether the revised guidance will ensure that housing needs assessments are conducted sufficiently rigorously to meet the requirements of local development planning and to form the basis of housing resource allocation by ministers.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to reply. Her response is as follows:

  A number of changes will affect how local authorities prepare their Local Housing Strategies. These include legislative changes arising from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, proposals to create a national Strategic Housing Investment Framework, and on-going work to ensure that assessments of future housing need are more consistent and more strongly linked to assessments of overall housing supply requirements for development planning purposes.

  These changes will necessitate revisions to the current guidance on the preparation of Local Housing Strategies. Local authorities are expected to update their current Local Housing Strategies by early 2009. We propose therefore to issue a series of revisions to the guidance to reflect these changes in sufficient time for local authorities to prepare both for the implementation of the Strategic Housing Investment Framework and for their Local Housing Strategies to be completed by the deadline.

  Local housing needs assessments are complex exercises that must be prepared using robust methodology that takes account of both local and national requirements. We will shortly be piloting an exercise which aims to gather needs assessment information in a standard way. When the exercise is rolled out across Scotland at the end of the year, it will help us to gain a better understanding of the relationship between local and nationally undertaken needs assessments. More consistent and reliable local needs assessments will enhance their value as a contributory element of soundly based development plans and in informing resource allocations.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership and remit will be of its Affordable Housing Working Group and whether it will identify all research sponsored by or for the working group and the anticipated timescales for reporting.

Malcolm Chisholm: The remit of the Affordable Housing Working Group is "To establish means of securing the more effective supply of affordable housing in areas of greatest need". The group has met on one occasion and was attended by representatives from four local authorities, Homes for Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, COSLA and Scottish Water. There will be a further meeting of the group in October at which the work programme will be discussed, although at this stage it is not envisaged that the group will prepare or present a formal report. The work of the group will be informed by research already commissioned by the Executive on the allocation of land for affordable housing through the planning system. The completed research is expected to be available prior to the October meeting of the working group.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invite the City of Edinburgh Council to consider re-running the community ownership ballot in Edinburgh and, if so, whether it will extend the eligible electorate to include prospective tenants, in addition to current tenants, given the interest which the former have in the outcome of the ballot.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Community Ownership Programme is open to any local authority in Scotland, and each application is considered on its own merit.

  The City of Edinburgh Council is reviewing the options for the future of its housing and any decision to re-apply to the community ownership programme lies with the council.

  Tenant participation is at the heart of community ownership and section 76 and Schedule 9 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 clearly sets out the requirements for statutory consultation with tenants whose homes are included in a transfer proposal. There are no proposals to change this guidance to include prospective tenants.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been issued with fixed penalty notices for litter offences in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-27559 on 21 August 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of fixed penalty fines for litter offences have been successfully collected in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been collected from fixed penalty fines for litter offences in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally.

Livestock

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers have been convicted of cattle livestock movement offences in each year since August 2000, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: Twenty-four people have been convicted under the Cattle Identification Regulations and the Cattle Database Regulations since August 2000. This information is available by Procurator Fiscal (PF) area as follows:

  1 August 2000 to 31 December 2000: one conviction, Greenock PF area.

  2001: one conviction each at Ayr, Campbeltown, Falkirk, Peterhead, Stranraer, and Stirling PF areas.

  2002: one conviction each at Kilmarnock and Lanark PF areas.

  2003: two convictions in Ayr and one each in Dumfries and Kirkcaldy PF areas.

  2004: five convictions in Ayr, two in Lanark and one each in Dumfries and Jedburgh PF areas.

  2005: one conviction in Lanark PF area.

  2006: one conviction in Stranraer PF area.

Livestock

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on cattle movement legislation, in light Defra’s admission that the EU law it used to prosecute a Flintshire farmer in March 2006 had been repealed and was yet to be replaced, and what the potential consequences are for the Executive’s Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD).

Ross Finnie: On 10 June 2006 Defra made SEERAD aware that the enforcement powers of the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998 (CIR) and the Cattle Database Regulations 1998 (CDR) may not be effective as they were not updated when Council Regulation (EC) 820/97 was revoked and replaced by Council Regulation 1760/2000 in August 2000. In order to put the enforcement powers in the regulations beyond doubt, amendments were made, with my approval, on a GB basis to update references in the CIR and CDR pending consideration of the Defra advice. The amending legislation came into force on 15 June 2006.

  Following consideration of the position of Scottish CIR and CDR convictions from August 2000 to June 2006, it was determined that these convictions should be set aside as unsafe. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will be writing to the 24 people convicted advising them about this decision and repayment of fines.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure compliance with guidance issued to the NHS in April 2004 on car park charging schemes at NHS hospitals.

Mr Andy Kerr: Health Department officials are currently undertaking a full review of the car parking arrangements in place within each NHS board, in accordance with the guidance in HDL (2004) 19.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been levied in car parking charges by NHS hospitals in each year since 2004, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what checks and safeguards are in place to ensure that monies raised from hospital car parking charges will not be used to fund or offset other expenditure by hospitals.

Mr Andy Kerr: An exercise was recently undertaken to seek assurance statements from NHS board chief executives or directors of finance to confirm that boards are not generating income that is being used for purposes other than providing and maintaining car parking facilities.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance issued to NHS boards regarding hospital car park charging schemes applies to car parks built and run under PFI/PPP initiatives.

Mr Andy Kerr: The guidance covers all hospitals in Scotland, although it cannot be applied to PFI/PPP contracts, such as that at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh between Lothian NHS Board and Consort Healthcare Ltd, which were in existence before the guidance was issued in 2004. The guidance will cover all such contracts, however, when they are revised or renewed.

NHS Hospitals

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the contracts in respect of public telephone call charges in hospitals, including the Beatson Clinic.

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospitals operate a telephone service which charges patients higher than normal network rates.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally as decisions about the provision of public telephones in hospitals are a matter for the local NHS board.

NHS Staff

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what savings are expected to be made by each NHS board following the Executive’s decision to ban the use of non-contract agency nursing staff.

Mr Andy Kerr: Following the Scottish Executive Health Department’s directive to NHS boards that the use of non-contracted Premium Rate Labour Agencies should cease with immediate effect, it is estimated that NHSScotland will save over £5.1 million per annum on agency labour costs.

  The following table provides estimated savings for each NHS board:

  

 Health Board
Estimated Savings(£)


 Ayrshire and Arran
 241,735


 Borders
 247,641


 Dumfries and Galloway
 30,000


 Fife
 753,431


 Forth Valley
 503,307


 Grampian
 34,866


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 1,062,881


 Highland
 32,267


 Lanarkshire
 73,916


 Lothian
 1,358,753


 Orkney
 0


 Shetland
 0


 Tayside
 825,303


 Western Isles
 0


 Total Estimated Savings
 5,164,100



  The estimated savings provided have been calculated using the differential between contract rates and off-contract rates against spend data taken from NHS boards’ accounts payable systems for 2005-06. The differential between contract and non-contract Premium Rate Agencies is a 30% to 50% saving.

NHS Staff

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure that there is adequate staffing on all hospital wards at all times.

Mr Andy Kerr: The staffing of NHS hospital wards and departments is a matter for NHS boards to manage in the light of clinical needs in their area. The Scottish Executive Health Department is currently taking forward a project for nursing and midwifery which will make recommendations about effective workload measurement tools. NHS boards will be able to use these in workforce planning and for benchmarking with other boards. I expect the measurement tools to be available in 2007.

NHS Staff

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nursing hours per ward have been worked in each NHS board in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the number of nursing hours worked per ward across NHS Scotland is not held centrally. NHS employers are responsible for the planning and appropriate deployment of their staff.

NHS Staff

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bank nurses have been used by each NHS board in each of the last five years and what the cost was to each board of employing such nurses.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the use and associated costs of bank nurses for individual NHS boards in Scotland can be accessed on table E16 of the following link: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=1350&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&

  Further statistical information on NHS Scotland’s workforce is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

NHS Staff

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many agency nurses have been used by each NHS board in each of the last five years and what the cost was to each board of employing such nurses.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the use and associated costs of agency nurses for individual NHS boards in Scotland can be accessed on table E13 of the following link:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=1350&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&

  Information prior to 2001 is not available.

  Further statistical information on NHS Scotland’s workforce is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

Planning

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the establishment of a regional network of offices for Planning Aid for Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: Planning Aid for Scotland already provides a national service of training and advice with volunteers from across Scotland. They are planning to expand their volunteer network through the recruitment of a Volunteer Development Officer funded by the Executive. Consequently, there are no plans to establish a regional network of offices.

Planning

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue instructions or advice to local authorities in relation to delayed starts to local plan inquiries, in light of criticisms made by the Chief Inquiry Reporter in the foreword to Inquiry Reporters Unit: Review of the Year 2005 - 2006 .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporters Unit (SEIRU) has already issued advice to local authorities on this matter. In March of this year the Chief Inquiry Reporter wrote to all Heads of Planning in local authorities explaining how improvements in current practice at local plan inquiries were being implemented. The first paragraph of that advice suggested that the planning authority should establish a timetable for the lead-in to the public inquiry from the end of the deposit period, allowing sufficient time for its own consideration of the merits of the objections lodged to the local plan and for the preparation of all documentation. Additionally, the SEIRU have adopted a more systematic approach to assessing authorities’ state of preparation. In addition to a quarterly progress report from all authorities, the Unit explores the realism of the programme for each local plan through preparatory meetings involving the SEIRU and local authority officials before committing to the provision of a reporter.

Planning

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its reasons are for upholding an appeal by Hoddom and Kinmount Estates against the decision by Dumfries and Galloway Council to reject an outline planning application for the development of land for residential use and the formation of access at Ryehill Road, Powfoot.

Malcolm Chisholm: The reporter appointed to determine this case explained the reasons for allowing the appeal in his decision letter dated 10 August 2006. A copy of the decision letter can be downloaded using the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/planning/seiru/seiruDocs/PPA_170_177.pdf .

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been seized in each local authority area in each year since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force.

Elish Angiolini QC: This information is not held by local authority area, but by reporting agency. These figures are collated internally by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. These figures do not include the value of the amount of property and money under restraint under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

  (a) Table A shows the amount of Criminal Confiscation Orders made by reporting agency area, since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force.

  (b) Table B shows the amount of cash seized, under Chapter 3 of Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each reporting agency area, since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force.

  (c) Table C shows the amount of cash forfeited under section 298 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each reporting agency area, since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force.

  (d) Table D shows the value of property recovered under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in each reporting agency area, since the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force.

  (e) Figures from the first half of 2006 will be published at the end of October 2006.

  Table A

  

 Year
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central
£1,500
£10,040
£153,517.03


 Dumfries and Galloway
£18,205.47
£54,687.79
£125,730.72


 Fife 
£11,098.97
£104,831.44
£113,902.77


 Grampian
£186,071.51
£319,059.58
£441,699.97


 Lothian and Borders
£438,200.34
£107,916.84
£384,669.28


 Northern Constabulary
£64,699.62
£17,545.84
£1,031,354.39


 Strathclyde
£383,181.43
£521,175.91
£596,898.60


 Tayside
£51,438.16
£37,029.80
£66,644.15


 HMRC
£93,577.52
£87,017.63
£177,000


 SDEA
£236,822.83
£88,294.19
£375,322.57


 Total
£1,484,795.85
£1,347,599.02
£3,466,739.48



  Table B

  

 Year
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central
£0
£278,690.75
£43,421


 Dumfries and Galloway
£338,347.54
£247,379.16
£168,845


 Fife 
£10,000
£9,353.51
£21,632.24


 Grampian
£101,834.35
£24,500
£38,348.29


 Lothian and Borders
£60,722.66
£69,978.40
£92,321.04


 Northern Constabulary
£0
£7,000
£6,200


 Strathclyde
£582,520.76
£505,132.53
£622,373.23


 Tayside
£25,975
£149,816.77
£31,199.17


 HMRC
£311,289.21
£390,472.36
£230,140


 SDEA
£0
£6,396.28
£13,280


 Total
£1,430,689.52
£1,688,719.76
£1,267,759.97



  Table C

  

 Year
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central
£0
£226,090.75
£25,283.50


 Dumfries and Galloway
£254,380
£143,991.99
£91,660


 Fife 
£0
£8,500
£0


 Grampian
£108,494
£10,000
£0


 Lothian and Borders
£35,362.66
£0
£33,688.40


 Northern Constabulary
£0
£7,000
£6,200


 Strathclyde
£145,359.04
£272,115.23
£324,041.32


 Tayside
£0
£53,660
£75,644.66


 HMRC
£117.355
£65,806.75
£15,170


 SDEA
£0
£0
£12,280


 Total
£660,950.70
£787,164.72
£583,967.88



  Table D

  

 Year
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central
 
 
 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 
£167,488.84
 


 Fife 
 
 
 


 Grampian
£23,986.29
 
 


 Lothian and Borders
 
£35,919.09
 


 Northern Constabulary
 
 
 


 Strathclyde
 
 
£88,602.23


 Tayside
 
 
 


 HMRC
 
 
£673,000


 SDEA
 
 
 


 Total
£23,986.29
£203,407.93
£761,602.23

Scottish Enterprise

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Enterprise has finalised its training budget allocations for 2006-07 to the local enterprise companies and, if so, what percentage change has been made in each training budget, broken down by company.

Nicol Stephen: Ministers are responsible for setting the strategic direction for Scottish Enterprise. In turn, Scottish Enterprise agrees with ministers an annual Operating Plan which contains budget allocations for key activities, although amendments may be agreed in the course of the year. The Operating Plan for 2006-09 was published on 29 June 2006. Detailed budget allocations for each local enterprise company are an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Small Businesses

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21075 by Nicol Stephen on 31 January 2006, how many (a) grocery, (b) butcher, (c) baker, (d) fishmonger, (e) newsagent, (f) confectionery and (g) tobacco retail outlets and how many wholesalers there were in 2005 or, if this data is not yet available, when it will be.

Nicol Stephen: This data for 2005 is not yet available.

  The reference point for the Scottish Executive’s business stock database is being brought forward from November to March. For continuity of analysis, the first two years of March based figures (2005 and 2006) will be published together by the end of this year. This change has resulted in a delay to the 2005 figures; however the data for 2006 and subsequent years will be available at least six months earlier under the new timetable.